wattle

English

Wattle (fold of skin in birds and lizards) hanging from a rooster’s neck.

A wattle (construction of woven branches) fence (bottom).

Wattles of a goat.

Acacia podalyriifolia, a wattle (Australian tree of the genus Acacia).

Etymology

From Middle English wattel, watel, from Old English watel, watul (“hurdle”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, wind, bend”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɒtl̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) enPR: wŏtʹl, IPA^(key): /ˈwɑtl̩/, [ˈwɑ.ɾl̩]
• Rhymes: -ɒtəl
• Homophone: what'll (UK, wine–whine merger)

Noun

wattle (countable and uncountable, plural wattles)

1. A construction of branches and twigs woven together to form a wall, barrier, fence, or roof.
   • 1874, Alfred Tennyson, “The Holy Grail”, in Idylls of the King (The Works of Alfred Tennyson; VI), cabinet edition, London: Henry S. King & Co., […], →OCLC, page 104:

     And there the heathen Prince, Arviragus, / Gave him an isle of marsh whereon to build; / And there he built with wattles from the marsh / A little lonely church in days of yore, […]

2. A single twig or rod laid on a roof to support the thatch.
3. A wrinkled fold of skin, sometimes brightly coloured, hanging from the neck of birds (such as chicken and turkey) and some lizards.
4. A barbel of a fish.
5. A decorative fleshy appendage on the neck of a goat.
6. Loose hanging skin in the neck of a person.
   • 2006, Peter Godwin, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa:

     The buttons below his waddle open to reveal a ruddy V, tidemark of the sun.

7. Any of several Australian trees and shrubs of the genus Acacia, or their bark, used in tanning, seen as a national emblem of Australia.
   • 1901, “Progress in the Fruit Industry of Queensland”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record‎, volume 4, page 16:

     The tents and sheets are made of the best Canadian duck, tanned for the purpose of preservation with a strong extract of iron-bark and wattle-bark.

Coordinate terms

• (skin on head of birds): caruncle, comb, cockscomb, crest, snood

Derived terms

• black wattle (Acacia spp. and Callicoma)
• chinchilla wattle
• cinnamon wattle
• Cootamundra wattle
• golden wattle (Acacia pycantha)
• sallee wattle
• savannah wattle
• savanna wattle
• silver wattle
• spurwing wattle
• sunshine wattle (Acacia terminalis)
• wattle and daub
• wattle bagworm (Kotochalia junodi)
• wattlebird (Anthochaera)
• wattle-eye (Platysteiridae)
• Wattle Range
• wattle turkey

 

Translations

construction of branches and twigs

Azerbaijani: hörük (az) Bulgarian: плет (bg) m (plet) Chinese: Mandarin: 籬牆／篱墙 (zh) (líqiáng) Czech: proutěné pletivo, hať (cs) f Dutch: vlechtwerk (nl) Finnish: punos (fi) French: clayonnage (fr) m Galician: caínzo (gl) m, canizo (gl) m, quenzo m, caniza (gl) f, sebe (gl) f, barda (gl) f German: Flechtwerk (de) n Greek: καλαμωτή (el) f (kalamotí), πλέγμα (el) n (plégma) Hungarian: vesszőfonat, vesszőfonadék (hu), sövényfonat, sövényfonadék, vesszősövény, vesszőkerítés Irish: caolach m, cleathóg f, cleith f Italian: canniccio, graticcio (it), intreccio di canne o vimini, recinzione (it) f Kannada: ತಡಿಕೆ (kn) (taḍike) Polish: plecionka (pl) f Portuguese: pau a pique m, taipa (pt) f Russian: плете́нь (ru) m (pleténʹ), плетёный забо́р m (pletjónyj zabór) Spanish: zarzo (es) m Ukrainian: пліт (uk) m (plit) Welsh: bangorwaith m, plethwaith m

fold of skin hanging from the neck of birds

Bulgarian: обица (bg) f (obica) Catalan: barballera f Cherokee: ᏚᏳᏩᏛ (duyuwadv) Czech: lalok (cs) m Dutch: lel (nl) Finnish: heltta (fi) French: barbillon (fr) m Galician: mendrello m German: Kehllappen m Greek: λειρί (el) n (leirí) Hungarian: lebernyeg (hu), bőrlebernyeg (hu), bőrszakáll, szakáll (hu), pötyögő Indonesian: gelambir (id) Ingrian: parta Irish: sprochaille f Italian: bargiglio (it) Maori: werewere, peruperu Persian: لار (lâr) Portuguese: barbela (pt) f, papilha f (birds) Russian: серёжка (ru) f (serjóžka), боро́дка (ru) (boródka) Scottish Gaelic: cluigean m Spanish: barbilla (es) f, carúncula (es) f, piña (es) f (turkey) Thai: เหนียง (th) (nǐiang) Turkish: ibik (tr) Ukrainian: борідка (uk) f (boridka) Welsh: tagell f

fleshy appendage on the neck of goat

Finnish: heltta (fi) French: pampille (fr) f Galician: beche m, barbacacho m German: Glöckchen (de) n, Berlocke (de) f Italian: barbazzale m Persian: دگلان (deglân) Portuguese: barbela (pt) f Russian: боро́дка (ru) (boródka) Spanish: mamella (es) f

loose hanging skin

Czech: lalok (cs) m Dutch: kwab (nl) Finnish: heltta (fi) Galician: feldrello m, pingallo (gl) m, peldracha f Irish: sprochaille f, meilleog f Italian: pappagorgia Portuguese: papo (pt) m, papada f Russian: двойно́й подборо́док m (dvojnój podboródok) Spanish: papada (es) f Thai: เหนียง (th) (nǐiang)

Australian acacia

Finnish: akasia (fi) Galician: acacia (gl) f Hebrew: שִׁטָּה (he) f (shitá) Irish: crann acaicia m Italian: acacia australiana Maori: wātara, wātera, keiha Mari: Eastern Mari: акаций (akacij) Ngarrindjeri: wurruldi Portuguese: acácia (pt) f Russian: ака́ция (ru) f (akácija), австрали́йская ака́ция f (avstralíjskaja akácija) Spanish: acacia (es) f Ukrainian: австралійська акація f (avstralijsʹka akacija) Woiwurrung: garrong

Verb

wattle (third-person singular simple present wattles, present participle wattling, simple past and past participle wattled)

1. (transitive) To construct a wattle, or make a construction of wattles.
2. (transitive) To bind with wattles or twigs.

Further reading

• wattle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia